Brain chemicals effecting our mood at different levels
what is a hormone ?
chemical messenger
what is adrenaline?
a stress hormone released by the adrenal gland- stressor activates the f/f response which is activated by the sympatheticdivision - adrenal gland makes adrenalin - gets into blood-physiological arousal -heart rate increases
What is cortisol?
another stress hormone - released if the stress doesn'tgoaway - also released by the adrenal gland - refills bodies energy
Causes damage to the immunesystem - get ill in time of chronic stress
What is a neurotransmitter?
chemicalmessenger between nerves
How do neurotransmitters work?
Travel across presynapticneuron then diffuses across synaptic cleft to the postsynaptic neuron and attach to special receptors - deactivate or activate the neuron
What is serotonin?
Neurotransmitter - lowlevels are linked to depression - drugs can increase the levels of serotonin - antidepressants
What are the strengths?
Addison's disease - lack of cortisol - can cause a life threatening disease - treatment - selfadministratecortisol - improves life's
What are the weaknesses?
depression - 17 studies show that serotonin and depression do not have a directlink
not considering cognitive factors - same stressor but differentreactions - not a full explanation
